Lotus 2-Eleven news - Eleven plus - 2007

When Lotus invited us down to its test track in deepest Norfolk to see how the new 2-Eleven dealt with being pushed to its very limits, we thought it'd be a bit impolite to refuse.

This is, after all, perhaps the most extreme road-legal beast ever to come out of Hethel.

Lotus has taken the Elise's aluminium tub, added a modified running gear from the Exige S and bolted on all-new ultra-lightweight composite bodywork to create a stripped-down, hardcore racer. 

Throw in a 1.8-litre Toyota-sourced engine (supercharged, naturally) producing 262bhp and you've got a power-to-weight ratio of 338bhp per tonne and a car that'll dispatch 60mph in under four seconds - and 100mph in well under 10.

All of which sounded to us like a perfect recipe for some serious track thrashing action - and we weren't wrong.

Don't even try to pretend that you don't want one.